The Maryland Renaissance Festival begins its 46th season this Saturday, August 27, and runs Saturdays and Sundays and Labor Day Monday through Sunday, October 23, for nine weekends of thrills, feasting, handmade crafts, entertainment, and merriment in Crownsville, near Annapolis, Maryland
The 27-acre Maryland Renaissance Festival home at the Village of Revel Grove comes to life with more than 200 professional performers on ten stages, a 3,000-seat arena with armored jousting on magnificent steeds, and streets filled with village characters. Join His Most Royal Highness King Henry VIII in the forests and glades with over 140 artisans exhibiting crafts in their own renaissance shops, five taverns featuring cool libations, food and beverage emporiums providing a vast array of succulent and sweet treats to sate even the most hearty of appetites.
The almost continuous entertainment on all ten stages features many returning favorite performers: Shakespeare’s Skum in its 38th year with rollicking twenty-minute renditions of the Bard’s most popular plays; A Fool Named “O” and LaLa mimes; walk with nobility through the village with King Henry and his Royal Court. Minstrels, magicians, musicians, jugglers, and daring feats of skill and artistry abound. Returning this season is the jousting troupe Debracey Productions with a field full of horses, men in armor, chariots, trick riding, and thrills for all ages. Major additional acts include Topsy Turvy, Markita’s One Woman Stunt Show; Piper Jones; Hey Nunnie Nunnie’s song and patter delight; Hilby, the Skinny German Juggle Boy amazes and confuses; the Danger Committee thrills with knife throwing and whip snappery; The London Broil cooks up rare juggling well done; and in the 49th year of their enormously popular comedy sword fighting and witty repartee Puke and Snot bedazzle with their fast paced humor. Add in a village full of stilt walkers, beggars, hermits, wenches, pick pockets, rakes and rogues for an entertainment experience not only to be seen but to be immersed amongst.
The Maryland Renaissance Festival’s reputation of unique and predominately handmade wares by the artists in their renaissance shops is among the best in the realm of festivals. Metal work, wood sculpture, jewelry, furniture, clothing, footwear, ceramics, stained glass, headwear, glassblowing, and many demonstrating craftsmen fill the shops and studios.
The King’s kitchens prepare a sumptuous feast of delicious and wondrous delights to satisfy most any Lord or Lady. One pound smoked turkey legs, steak on a stake, fresh crepes, stuffed chili peppers, gyros, succulent ribs, a fresh seafood raw bar, sweet concoctions, and tender sandwiches of chicken, fish, crab, beef, and pork with bountiful servings of all manner of sides add to your table. Cool, mild drinks and an array of ales, ciders, and wines cleanse your pallet and refresh your constitution.
The first three weekends, from August 27 through September 11, the Festival reduces pricing for all without coupons or special purchasing required to offer budget-friendly pricing. Tickets beginning September 17 through October 23 are for peak season.
